Dr. Joyce Dinglasan-Panlilio joined the UW Tacoma faculty in 2007 and pioneered the lower division Chemistry curriculum upon the expansion of the university into a 4-year institution. She obtained her undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Toronto. As an environmental organic chemist, her research focuses on investigating sources, transport and fate of emerging organic contaminants in the environment. She has pioneered studies and published articles on various indirect sources of perfluorinated chemicals to the environment. These are chemicals used in the manufacture of the non-stick polymer Teflon and related compounds. Environmental monitoring of emerging contaminants such as chemicals used in personal care products (PCPs) around the Puget Sound region is also an active area of her research. In addition, her research involves developing sensitive analytical methods using gas and liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to measure various organic contaminants in complex environmental samples including surface water, air, sludge, biota and sediment.

She is a proponent of involving undergraduate students in cutting edge environmental research. She is also passionate about improving Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education across all grade levels and improving access of underrepresented students to higher education.

Current Research

Measurement of residual polyfluorinated compounds from consumer products in order to evaluate the overall impact of these products to the environmental load of perfluorinated compounds